


The Bats Are Gone

by mielipieli



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Justice League, Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Bats are just gone, Gen, angst and fluff and that shit, just everything and everyone is mentioned, mix of rebirth and pre flashpoint, swoosh, this is the most complex thing I've ever written
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2018-11-04 20:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10997964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mielipieli/pseuds/mielipieli
Summary: The Bats are gone and everyone is frantically searching. It's been three days and still there is no sign. If they had any clues there might be hope but so far there's been nada.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There is no real continuity in here. The Teen Titans are pre-52 (mostly) but the Titans are Rebirth. Red Hood and the Outlaws happened, the JSA exists. Basically most relationships between the characters are the same as pre-52.
> 
> Claire doesn't exist and neither does Bette Kane but Duke and Harper vanished with the others. I'm also kind of ignoring Cullen. I'm basically thinking of him as: they keep him informed but he stays with a friend. Also Babs is Oracle

The Bats are gone and no one knows why.

The Bats are gone and no one has any idea where they are. 

The Bats are gone and Gotham is a mess.

The caped community has been searching for three days. They don’t have Oracle’s information. They don’t have the easy contact that is usually possible because nearly all of the teams have a Bat as their leader and they just understand each other. The fact that their leaders are gone isn’t a problem for the Justice League or the Titans but the Teen Titans are more insecure without Red Robin. It’s not like Wonder Girl can’t lead. She does a great job. She just doesn’t believe it. 

No one really wants to admit it but the community has been a mess these last few days. Well, not in the way that anyone from the outside would notice it but everyone can see the worry. The main problem isn’t really that Batman, the Robins and the Batgirls are gone. It’s that everyone around them seems to have vanished as well. Alfred is gone. Batwoman is gone. Blue Bird is gone. Batwing, Huntress and every other Gotham hero. 

That was the real problem. They had no idea who could have done it and without someone with extensive knowledge of the workings of Gotham’s underworld they might not be able to find out. So far, they have Starfire, Arsenal and Black Canary patrolling Gotham. Because of their work with Red Hood and Oracle they probably knew the most about Gotham. 

The rooms from which the Bats vanished had been searched by everyone who was also called on during the Identity Crisis. Nothing. Not a single thing was out of place. The kitchen looked like it had been abandoned in the middle of breakfast: A half eaten toast at the table. Three cups of coffee, one of them empty the others still half-full. 

But not only had the Bats apparently vanished in the middle of breakfast. Nightwing and Red Robin had spent the night at the respective Titans’ HQ. In Nightwing’s room the closet door had been open. A shirt on the floor. In the Teen Titans’ tower there had been a cup of coffee on the couch table. An open laptop right next to it. It had already been empty when it was found in the morning. 

In all of the apartments, homes and HQs the cameras had shorted out for about one second. Just before the respective Bats had usually frowned and looked at something. No one knew what they had seen or heard. No other security cameras had shorted out but still there was no clue on any of them.

Superboy had apparently not heard anything. Neither had any of the other ten superpowered heroes who had spent the night in either of the HQs. 

Superman pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed: „You got anything, Diana?“ They had both spent the last five hours after their search shift had ended in the watchtower rewatching and comparing the security footage. There had to be something on there.

„No. Nothing“, Diana said and rubbed her eyes. Then she looked back at her laptop. Her eyes widened. „I think I have found something.“

„Really?“ Clark hadn’t meant to sound so incredulous. „What is it?“ 

„Come and take a look.“ Clark was behind her in the blink of an eye. Diana pressed play. „You see it?“

Clark squinted: „Not really. No.“

„It’s longer. This camera is the only one that didn’t black out at 7:35:06 and turned back on at 7:36:06. On both ends it took five seconds longer“, Diana’s eyes shone with hope as she looked at him. Once again Clark wondered what in the world had gotten all of the Bats out of bed that early. It had been a freaking Sunday. 

„Which one was that?“, he asked instead

„Nightwing.“

„Wait… That doesn’t really makes sense. If one place should ‚take longer‘, one should expect it to be the one with four people, right?“

„One would think that. Which makes the question of what took longer there even more interesting.“

————————

Five minutes later when they were watching all of the footage in the Titans’ HQ again, Diana’s communicator beeped: „Donna? What is it?“ She put the communicator on speaker.

„Wally and I were searching Dick’s room for anything we might have missed and there was something… unusual, I guess. He usually has a pair of escrima sticks and some Wingdings in his closet under the clothes. And while the Wingdings are there, one of the escrima sticks is missing.“

Diana and Clark looked at each other: „That’s interesting. We just realized that his camera blacked out ten seconds longer than the others’. How about you guys come here and we compare notes.“

———————

They went through everything for five more hours. The four of them comparing the security footage from Titans tower to that of every other location. Looking for what had happened in the five seconds before the cameras failed everywhere else. Still, they were no closer to a single clue. That was until Mr. Terrific called:

„We have something. Could you come to the Clocktower?“

Mr. Terrific and Steel had spent the last three days in Gotham’s Clocktower trying to find any irregularities in Oracle’s computer systems. It had taken them one day to even get access to everything because while Black Canary had been able to give them access to most areas, anything more Bat-specific had apparently only been accessible to a Bat. They probably could have guessed that. 

When Cyborg had tried to get in, he had ended up unconscious for two hours. Now Cyborg was working on the Batcomputer while the other two stuck with Oracle’s systems. And apparently all of that effort was finally getting them somewhere. 

Wally was vibrating next to Donna. She knew exactly how he felt. Nervousness and Excitement. Fear. At this point wha the two had found could determine whether they would find the Bats or not. Still, the vibrating was incredibly annoying. Donna put her hand on Wally’s shoulder. He stopped and looked at her with a smile:

„Sorry.“

„It’s fine. I’m worried, too.“

A few meters ahead of them, Clark turned around and gave them an understanding and comforting smile before stepping through the door to the computer room. They had passed Steel in one of the server rooms where he had been cursing silently, which meant that only Mr. Terrific was in the monitor room. 

„Good, you’re here“, Mr. Terrific said without losing any time, „We found something in one of the monitors.“ He holds up a small cube, not even one centimeter big. It had a silver color and had some kind of carving on its sides.

„As far as we can tell it’s a really advanced gadget and we have no knowledge of what it does. There are two distinct possibilities: Either it was some kind of security measure Oracle used or it was placed there by someone else, most likely whoever took the Bats. If the latter is the case, there should be one of these at every site. Now that you know what to look for, do you think you would be able to find these if they are inside some other objects, Clark?“

Donna looked at Clark and saw him stare at the cube and then some of the other objects in the room. He was most likely comparing their structure and seeing whether it could be differentiated between them. 

„That should work. I’ll call Kara and Kon so we can get through the different sites more quickly.“

„That’s great. I’ll wait for them here and then take a closer look at this in my lab in the Brownstone“, Mr. Terrific said sounding relieved.

When Clark had finished the calls, he turned to Donna, Diana and Wally: „They should be here in a few minutes. I think it would be best if no one is alone. I’ll take Diana with me if that’s okay with her“, she nodded, „and then you two can go with one of the others each.“

Donna nodded: „I think that’s a good idea. I’ll go with Kara and Wally will take Kon.“

„Sounds good“, Wally agreed. „We should probably already split up the locations, though.“

„Ok. Diana and I will get started with the Manor, the girls’ Apartment and Batwoman’s place. Someone should take both Titans’ HQs and Red Hood’s safehouse. That leaves Batwing, Catwoman and Huntress.“

„I’ll take the Titans“, Wally said.

Donna laughed: „Fine by me.“ Her heart felt so incredibly light right now. They finally had something to do. Something that wasn’t just a repetitive motion. Something that might actually lead somewhere.

Diana smiled: „We had better get started. You can fill the others in once they arrive.“

——————

About fifteen minutes later all explanations had been completed and both remaining teams were on their way. 

„Where do you want to start?“, Kara asked as she hovered next to Donna over the Clocktower. 

„Well, Red Hood’s safe house is just a few blocks from here. We should probably go there first.“

They flew in silence for about a minute before arriving at the apartment building in one of the poorer neighborhoods. 

„Donna, do you know whether the alarms have been deactivated?“, Kara said with her hand over the opening mechanism of the window. 

„Oh, shit. No, they haven’t. They were rerouted to the Watchtower. Let me just call them“, Donna said and pressed the communicator in her ear. 

„Watchtower, here. Green Lantern“, a female voice said. 

„Hey. Jessica, right?“

„Exactly.“

„Supergirl and I are currently at Red Hood’s safehouse. Could you deactivate the alarms for us?“

„Sure, no problem.“ There was quiet on the other end for a few seconds. „Should be off now.“

„Thanks, Jessica. We’ll call you when we’re done“, Donna said and hung up. „She seems so nice. I swear her and Kyle could probably form a club for ‚the only normal Green Lantern of Earth.“

Kara snorted and carefully opened the window: „I don’t know. Guy was always nice to me.“

Donna laughed: „I’m pretty sure he’s nice to every girl.“ She closed the window. „Ok. You need me to do anything or should I just play living statue.“

„Living statue would be great. Thanks“, Kara says with a smirk before her eyes go glassy.

That was the really interesting thing about X-Ray vision: Once you spend enough time with Supers you know when they’re using it. They all get that look of staring into the distance. You can tell that they’re not looking at anything around them.

Kara looked around the room slowly and carefully, her eyes moving past a pair of speakers on the table only to snap back to it. 

„You got anything?“, Donna asked and moved a bit closer to Kara as if to see something from her perspective that she hadn’t seen before. Of course that didn’t really make sense but sure, why not?

„I think so. There’s something in the speaker. Well, one of them. That’s the main thing that tipped me off. They should be the same. And I’m pretty sure the thing that is different is a small cube with some carvings.“

Donna couldn’t believe it. After nearly four days at this point they finally had a clue. „Let’s get the speaker to the Brownstone, then. We can bring it there and then move on to Titans’ tower.“

„Sounds good.“

——————

Roy sighed when he woke up only to see that it was already getting dark. Between patrolling Gotham with only three people and searching for the Bats whenever they had time, he was getting tired. Hell, he had only slept three hours and should probably get some food so he didn’t end up fainting. He rubbed his eyes and went into the bathroom where he brushed his teeth and splashed some water into his face. Then he went into the kitchen where Kori and Dinah were already having some pre-patrol coffee (Roy knew it didn’t actually have any effect on Kori). 

He groaned: „I’m starting to understand the Bats’ coffee addictions.“

Dinah snorted into her cup while Kori looked at him disapprovingly. She had always been very outspoken about unhealthy habits. 

„Anything special we need to take care of tonight?“, he asked after he had basically exed his first cup. 

Dinah handed him the pot: „Nothing I know of. But we should probably swing by Gordon’s office.“

„You only want to do that because he is uncomfortable around me“, Kori says with a disapproving look on her face. Roy definitely hears the amusement in her voice. 

„Duh“, Dinah says and they all laugh. Sleep deprivation makes humor standards much lower.

There was a comfortable quiet in the kitchen. It was quite a nice place to sit. Jay had always known how to decorate his safehouses and as far as Jason knew this was one of his favorites. 

„Have either of you heard of the search?“, Kori asked.

Both Roy and Dinah just shook their heads. The resulting silence was much less comfortable.

————————

Jess and Simon were stressed. It was their shift on the Watchtower for two more hours. With the coordination of the search efforts, the different patrols - the Titans were taking care of Blüdhaven and Starfire, Arsenal and Black Canary of Gotham but they often didn’t have enough knowledge of some places and needed to get some information from the Watchtower - and finding someone to take care of crises that still popped up, they more than busy. 

Jess had had push down a panic attack more than once by now. She could feel another one coming now.

„Jess, are you okay?“, Simon asked.

Jess nodded. She was going to be alright. Everything was going to be alright. It wasn’t like they had no idea where one of the biggest groups of people in the community had gone. 

„You wanna take five minutes? I’ll be alright. Drink a tea and sit down. Come back when you’re feeling better, okay?“

„Thanks, Simon. I swear I’m not going to be long“, she said and took a deep breath.

„Don’t worry about it.“ He shot her a smile. Then he clicked a button on his communicator. „Superman? Batwoman’s place? Sure. Just give me a second. There…“

Jess didn't hear him complete his sentence because she was already on her way to the kitchen.


	2. A First Result

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a place to start now but there's not enough. And how should they deal with the public?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually figured some stuff out. I have the beginnings of a plan now, so this might actually be happening.

It takes them about four hours to find all of the cubes. There were four in the Manor’s kitchen, each a maximum of one meter away from one of the Bats locations before the cameras went out. Three could be found in the girls’ apartment and each of the other locations had exactly one cube. 

Diana frowned: „How would someone know the exact location of each of them and how did the cubes get there?“

„I don’t have an answer to either of those questions“, Mr. Terrific said and put down the cube he had previously been holding. He yawned into his hand and took a sip of coffee. „What I can tell you is that each of these cubes have different carvings and that the metal they are made of is not known to me. I’ve called Zatanna to see whether there is anything mystical about them.“

„That sounds great. Maybe get some sleep until she gets here“, Diana threw the coffee a pointed look. Then she turned to Kon, Kara, Donna and Wally: „We could all probably use some.“ 

„One more thing“, Donna said before anyone could either agree or disagree with Diana. „The public will notice the disappearance of both the Waynes and the Bats very soon.“

Clark nodded: „I spoke to J’onn earlier. M’gann and him are going to make sure everyone makes an appearance at an ice cream parlor or something like that. Just enough to refute any rumours that they are gone. I don’t know what we can do to stop a mass panic because of the Bats’ absence.“

„What if we hold a press conference?“, Wally supplied after a few seconds, „We can tell the media that the Bats are gone for a while. We can make an incredibly vague statement. Imply that they are taking a vacation or that they are one a mission. Say that it in no way disrupts the work of the community. That Batman made sure Gotham was taking care of.“

Donna nodded: „I think that could work. Especially because it is a different approach from what we are doing with the Waynes. It might stop people from drawing the connection.“

„Sounds good“, Clark said. „We’ll call a press conference tomorrow afternoon. Until then we can all get some sleep.“

—————

„Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and anyone outside of those categories“, Diana said as she stood behind the podium and in front of the assembled press. „We are holding this conference because the Gotham vigilantes have taken a leave of absence. Before any ugly rumors begin to circulate, we want to make it clear that there is no need for worry. This leave of absence is certainly unusual and might seem strange from the outside but it seems perfectly sensible to anyone knowing all of the details.

„Batman asked us to share this much with you and inform you that all of their usual responsibilities have been relegated. I will answer some questions now. Please note that I may only reveal information that does no harm to any secret identities or current missions. Therefore, I may have to refuse to answer some of your questions.“ 

A black woman in the second row immediately held up her hand: „How long is this leave of absence going to last?“

Diana sighed: „I am quite sorry that this must happen with the first question but I am not at liberty to say. Next question… how about the gentleman with the green bowtie?“

Said man looked down at his shirt for a second as if to make sure he was meant: „The Bats - I believe that’s what the internet has taken to calling them - hold several high posts in the different superhero teams. Does their absence in any way hinder the hero communities abilities?“

They had expected that question. „As I previously stated all of their responsibilities have been relegated. I believe you mean the leadership roles of Batman in the Justice League Nightwing in the Titans and Red Robin in the Teen Titans. While the Bats do have a unique skill set which makes them invaluable for our work, there have been times in the past where other people assumed those roles. When the Justice League was formed again after the ‚Infinite Crisis‘, Black Canary led it.

„In the direct aftermath of that same crisis Nightwing, Robin, Batman, Superman and I all took a leave of absence and the hero community didn’t grind to a halt. I have great trust in every single person I work with. The situation may have been new and uncomfortable for the last few days but at this point in time I can say without a doubt that we are capable of dealing with any crisis that may come up during this unusual time.“ Diana took a deep breath. „Anything else?“ Lois Lane held up her hand and Diana nodded at her. 

„Do you mind telling us who took over the different responsibilities?“

Diana thought for a second: „I don’t see any harm in doing so. Troia is currently leading the Titans, Wonder Girl the Teen Titans and as you can see I took over the leadership of the Justice League for now. The Titans are patrolling Blüdhaven. Starfire, Black Canary and Arsenal are patrolling Gotham. Unfortunately, I myself need to get back to monitor duty. I hope I could address any concerns you had. I will speak to you once more in the weekly press conference on Friday. I wish all of you a lovely day.“ Then she turned around and walked through the door of the press room in the Hall of Justice.

„You think they bought the whole ‚nothing to worry about‘ thing?“, Clark asked when the door had closed behind her and they were on their way to the transporter. 

„We will see in the news over the next few hours.“

—————

“So, what can you tell me?”, Mr Terrific asked as Zatanna’s eyes stopped glowing. 

She frowned at the cube she had been examining: “It doesn’t really have a magical energy. It’s… not not magical either. Somewhere in between. In a similar way that some of the New Genesis or Apokolips tech is. There’s nothing I could really identify, though.”

Mr Terrific sighed: “I was afraid of that. Can you recognise any of the carvings?”

Zatanna took a closer look at all of the different cubes. “No. But if they were magic, I would say that each one was most likely tailored to a specific person. Red Hood has sharper edges than Nightwing. Black Bat a simpler form than Batgirl. Oracle thinner lines than Batman. That could also be complete nonsense.” She rubbed her temples. It seemed like they were getting nowhere. 

“Anything else?”

“I don’t think that cube is working correctly.” She pointed at the one found in Nightwing’s closet. 

Mr Terrific’s face showed some relief: “I thought so, too. It’s good to have that theory corroborated. Any clue what’s wrong?”

“Not really. Just a guess. The aura is pulsating a bit. The others don’t do that.”

“The radiation readings were also different. Let’s get Cyborg here to take a look.”

\-----------------

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have breaking news from the Hall of Justice. A few minutes ago in an impromptu press briefing Wonder Woman announced the absence of the so-called Batfamily”, the anchorman announced. 

The first thirty seconds were shown.

“As of now the reason for this absence is still unknown but Wonder Woman reassured that there was no reason to worry. More information on the News52 app or this evening in our special where we will interview superhero expert Jonathan Hamilton. Now back to our regular program.”

\------------------

Cyborg walked around the cubes. Zatanna held her breath. Please let him find something. We need a clue. We need something to give us hope. 

He stepped a bit closer to Nightwing’s and looked at it: “This one seems… off. It’s different somehow.”

“We thought so, too”, Terrific agreed.

“Can I touch it?”, Cyborg asked carefully.

“Nothing’s happened so far.”

Cyborg lifted his hand and laid his finger on the symbol. He flew back a meter.

“Cyborg”, Zatanna cried and ran over.

He groaned: “Twice in as many days, great.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Just peachy.”

She helped him up. 

Then Terrific yelled out: “Something’s happening.”

Zatanna whirled around and the cube that had just been perfectly still was not anymore. Small square elements were moving outward and inward, forming an oscillating rhythm. The cube seemed to be pulsating with energy. The symbol - Nightwing’s symbol if Zatanna was correct - began glowing. 

Then the room exploded into light. Zatanna barely managed to block it from her eyes. 

When the light coming from above and below her arm was down to a normal level, Zatanna looked around a room. 

There was a figure on the floor. A bloody figure. He was holding onto a sword and was clad in armor, including a helmet that hid the hair and parts of the face. Zatanna launched herself forward to inspect them - him, definitely a him. He looked bruised and battered. He was bleeding from the many gashes on his legs and arms and maybe his abdomen. His face was bruised, too, despite the helmet. From the body type and what she could see of the face, however, Zatanna would guess it was Nightwing. 

“Call Mid-Nite”, she called out without looking away.

Her voice seemed to startle Nightwing awake. His eyes shot open and when he spotted her his eyes went wide. His right hand let go of his sword and instead grabbed onto her wrist. It was a weak grip but all he could manage.

“The sword. They’re looking for the sword”, he said as if that should mean something to her. It didn’t. Then he passed out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild bat appears! Seriously, I've talked about them so much but none of them wanted to come.


	3. Taking Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick has been found and someone is looking for him.

It had been two hours since Doctor Mid-Nite and Zatanna had vanished into the medbay with Nightwing, the latter to provide help and information, not that there was much. Cyborg and Mister Terrific had sent a message to everyone about the development and shortly after the Titans got there. 

They were sitting in the living room. Well, sitting was an exaggeration. Wally was walking back and forth, Roy was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, Garth was standing against the wall with crossed arms and Donna was sitting with her head in her hands. Lilith was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, meditating or maybe monitoring the situation in the medbay. The others glanced at her every few seconds.

She opened her eyes and looked at the door. The others followed suit, Roy sitting up and Wally stopping his pacing. A few seconds later the door opened and Doctor Mid-Nite walked in, followed by Zatanna.

“He’s going to be okay”, Mid-Nite said and a collective sigh followed. “But it will take a while. He has a bad concussion, five broken ribs, a broken arm, several cuts that needed stitching, a sprained ankle and he lost about one and a half liters of blood.”

“Do you know anything about what happened?”, Donna asked carefully. 

Zatanna shook her head: “Not really. We think it was the cube that brought him back here and he was wearing armor that looked a bit medieval. He was saying something about a sword being looked for but he does have a concussion and it could have been nonsense. 

\-----------------------

Clark wished he had the time to go check up on Dick but he had to work. His ears were tuned to Doctor Mid-Nite’s voice. Clark heard him tell the Titans that Dick was going to be alright and felt himself relax. 

Lois shot him a questioning look: “What is it?”

Clark leaned over and whispered: “They found Dick. He’s injured but he’s going to be okay.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Did it help with the search for the others?”

“Not much, so far. But maybe when he wakes up.”

\----------------------

“What’s that?”, Donna asked pointing at Dick’s right hand where she saw something that looked like a scar. 

Zatanna followed her finger and made an unhappy expression: “Mid-Nite said it seemed to be a brand. Healed up. Over years or with technological or magical aids. It’s the same symbol that the cube had.”

Donna stepped around the bed, then carefully turned around and opened Dick’s hand. He looked so vulnerable. The symbol reminded Donna of a wave. It was composed of two fine lines that started together, went up and then curled downward. The upper one got gradually thicker toward the top and then got thinner once more. It was beautiful and a very clean scar but Donna’s heart hurt at the thought of this being burned into Dick’s skin. 

The others were standing a few steps away from the bed. Donna wasn’t quite sure why but she also felt the urge to keep a distance. Maybe it was the machines beeping around Dick or the subtle air of “what the fuck happened”. Or the feeling of unfamiliarity. 

Wally cleared his throat: “How long will it take until he wakes up?”

“He said a few days, at least 3, at most 6.”

“Okay. That’s okay”, Wally seemed to be trying to convince himself. Lilith put a hand on his shoulder and he smiled at her but the smile didn’t reach his eyes and he looked back at Dick after a second.

\-------------------------

“Where is the Knight of Air?”, the Voice boomed through the great hall. 

The figure kneeling in front of the High Chair flinched: “I do not know. He vanished before my eyes much like the strangers from the land far away appeared. He was badly wounded in battle and I was just returning with a medic.”

The Voice remained quiet for a moment before speaking clearly and calmly: “You will find him. Do not return without him.” He looked away from the figure which quickly stood, bowed and hurried out of the hall without turning around - never let your back face the High Chair. 

The Voice looked at two of the High Knights: “Search for him.”

The Knights nodded and hurried outside a side door.

\-------------------------

Gotham was hell that night. The criminals had known before that something was off but that night, they knew for sure that Batman wasn’t there. Dinah rubbed her neck. Her home was Star City, which had far less crime than Gotham. Even the occasional patrol with the birds in Gotham had never been this bad. For starters, she had never been alone. 

Having to defend a whole city like Gotham with two people was difficult. She didn’t know how Batman and Robin had done it in the early days when there weren’t at least ten vigilantes in the city at all times. Granted, that had been a different time. 

Sometimes Dinah wondered whether it just seemed like everything was so much darker and grittier these days. But then she looked at pictures and newspapers from back then and she knew that it had been different. It wasn’t just her heart shriveling up in a corner from all of this constant pain and suffering. 

Two of her best friends were gone and she didn’t know where. It hurt. She felt herself wishing it had been Babs or Helena appearing in the Brownstone when she had read the update and then immediately felt a pang of guilt. Kory had started crying from relief and Dinah sat there wishing it was someone else.

Roy had asked with a shaky voice whether it was okay if he went to the Brownstone. Dinah had just nodded. Back when Roy had been going through withdrawal, she had stayed up with him and when she was too tired, Dick had stood at the door with a bag of groceries, letting her sleep and taking care of Roy. She would never forget that. 

Roy and Kory still had Jason to worry about, too. Kory hadn’t even asked whether she could visit Dick. She had stated she would do so tomorrow morning so she could spend time there and still be back for patrol. Dinah wanted to talk to someone. She wanted Ollie here but he was needed in Star. Maybe he’d answer his comms...

“Black Canary to Green Arrow.”

“Hello, Pretty Bird! Is everything okay?”, Ollie asked with a concerned undertone but trying not to seem like he didn’t trust her ability to defend herself. God, she loved that man.

“Yeah, just wanted to hear your voice.”

\---------------------------

The black-haired woman bowed before Stephanie just barely deep enough to be acceptable: “Milady, you are looking for the Knight of Air?”

“Yes but that’s not why I’m here. I need to talk to the Farmer”, Stephanie replied stopping her hand from going to her sword despite the danger. 

“He’s currently not in the house”, the woman said. Her voice said she was sorry but her face didn’t move.

Stephanie rolled her eyes: “Just tell him I’m here. He’ll want to see me.”

The woman raised her eyebrows and walked out of the room without the customary bow. Stephanie knew the woman wouldn’t have pulled this with one of the others but she didn’t care. She had information for the People and she needed it to get to them. This man was the only contact she had that she could reach without arousing suspicion. If she was unlucky, even that wouldn’t work. 

“Lady Stephanie Brown, the Purple Knight herself, in my humble home. To what do I owe the pleasure”, the man said in the local dialect.

“I’m here on behalf of the Sword.”

When she left the house five minutes later, Timothy was waiting for her: “What were you doing in there, Stephanie?” His tone was urgent. 

“I thought he might have information”, Stephanie shrugged. 

Timothy crossed his arms: “Stephanie. That is the house of the Farmer with The Gift of War. You know he isn’t liked.”

Stephanie smiled apologetically: “I’m sorry, Timothy. I didn’t realize. I thought his farm was on the other side of town.”

“It is. He walks to and from at dawn and dusk.”

He launched into a lecture about how the land had been split up in this town. Stephanie liked him, she really did but the things he found interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my list for who vanished where:
> 
> Manor: Duke, Damian, Alfred, Bruce  
> Girls' apartment: Cass, Steph and Harper (Harper doesn't live there. She crashed at their place because it was really late and she didn't want to wake Cullen)  
> Luke Fox was in his apartment  
> Kate Kane in hers  
> Dick from Titans tower NY  
> Tim from Titans tower San Francisco  
> Selina her apartment  
> Helena her apartment  
> Jason a safehouse in Gotham  
> Babs the Clocktower


End file.
